Whenever I walked into my Sunday school classroom in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, I was met by our most committed and enthusiastic-about-teaching-the-kiddos Sunday school teacher, Louise. Louise took me by my chubby, Kindergarten hand and led me to the rug where all of the other children were sitting. In the front of our classroom was the most beloved and widely used resource for teaching all good Christian children- the flannelgraph (Oh yeah, you know you remember!). On this day, I would experience for the first time what I call “new pastor’s kid treatment” where people went out of their way to welcome me with their warmest- and by chance their sincerest- welcome to their church. Its one thing to be the “new kid”- being the “new pastor’s kid” is an experience in of itself (people often don’t understand that there is a subtle and unconscious “holy man” approach people take in the socialization toward the pastor and his children. I call this “enlightened one syndrome”).
With all of the greetings out of the way, all of the children seated “Indian style,” and all eyes on the flannelgraph, Louise could begin her lesson.
To tell you the truth, I remember very little from the lesson that day.
However…
Little did I know that I would learn something that day that would psychologically and subconsciously distort my understanding of Jesus, the church, Christianity, and, thus, my entire worldview until my early 20s.
Louise would begin by declaring…
“Now, Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to church every Sunday.”
That’s it…
That’s all I remember…
How many problems can you find with that statement?
How could these mistakes be potentially confusing, hindering, and inherently hexing in the development of one’s understanding of Jesus?
What say you?
Bobby Ray Hurd
+ recovering sinner, idolator, and religious zealot +
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